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Capturing the value of nursing practice: Why standardized nursing language is a strategic, economic, and policy
Lianne Jeffs1, Peter Preziosi2
1Science of Care Institute, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health, Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Massey College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Background:
The currency of nursing care (how care is counted, measured, and valued within systems of power and decision-making) must be understood and treated as both a societal good and an economic investment. The currency of nursing care is grounded in directly impacting patient outcomes, population health, and system sustainability. However, the economic and social value of nursing care remains invisible and undervalued in how health systems measure performance and allocate resources.
Purpose:
To position the urgency to capture the value of nursing care in a standard, networked approach amid the persistent economic pressures (e.g. rising costs and tighter budgets), aging population, growing complex care needs, and widening workforce shortages resulting in poorer care and safety outcomes.
Methods:
This is a descriptive paper.
Discussion:
Making nursing work visible and valued is paramount and requires capturing nursing care using standardized nursing language (SNL) and terminologies. SNL enables nursing contributions to patient outcomes, supports evidence-informed decisions, advances nursing knowledge, and promotes more equitable care. Advances in big data, artificial intelligence, and emerging documentation technologies offer powerful new tools to capture and evaluate nursing care at scale.
Conclusion:
Capturing the value and contributions of nursing care requires deliberate action within modern health systems. 4 key recommendations are proposed: (a) recognize nursing care as both a social and economic investment, (b) establish and align a global standardized nursing language framework, (c) use big data and artificial intelligence to strengthen nursing visibility and impact, and (d) create and sustain a global network to drive nursing data, policy, and practice.